NABJ Mourns the Loss of Former New York Times Publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger

WASHINGTON, DC (September 30, 2012)—The National Association of Black
Journalists (NABJ) mourns the loss of former New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, who led the newspaper
to new levels of influence and profit amid some of the most significant moments
in 20th-century journalism, died Saturday. He was 86.

Sulzberger,
father of current Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., died at his home
in Southampton, N.Y., after a long illness, his family announced to the
newspaper.

"Our industry
has suffered the loss of a great newspaper man,” said NABJ President, Gregory
Lee, Jr. "His leadership and commitment to journalism are unmatched and his
legacy will continue always. Our
thoughts and prayers go out to the Sulzberger family.”

During his
three-decade-long tenure, the newspaper won 31 Pulitzer prizes, published the
Pentagon Papers and won a libel case victory in New York Times vs. Sullivan
that established important First Amendment protections for the press.

In an era of
declining newspaper readership, the Times' weekday circulation climbed from
714,000 when Sulzberger became publisher in 1963 to 1.1 million upon his
retirement as publisher in 1992. Over the same period, the annual revenues of
the Times' corporate parent rose from $100 million to $1.7 billion.

NABJ sends
its deepest condolences to the Sulzberger family.

An advocacy group established in 1975
in Washington, D.C. NABJ is the largest organization of journalists of color in
the nation and provides educational, career development and support to black
journalists worldwide.